Shamitabh is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language satirical drama film written and directed by R. Balki.
Plot
Danish, a mute man from
Igatpuri whose childhood dream was to become a
Bollywood actor, reaches
Mumbai to fulfill his dream. He tries to enter Film City but is stopped by guards. He trespasses anyway and meets an assistant director, Akshara Pandey, who is amazed by his acting. She approaches a director to request a role for Danish in a film, but the director refuses after he learns that Danish is mute.
Danish and Akshara go to a voice hospital to get his checkup, but doctors declare that his vocal chords are fully paralyzed and he cannot be treated. Akshara's father reveals a new "Live Voice Transfer Technology" exists in Finland; a chip will be fitted inside the patient's larynx which can help them "speak" (via a borrowed voice from the other person). After getting this operation done in Finland, Akshara and Danish return to Mumbai and set out to search for a person who could speak for Danish every time, when they come across an old drunkard, Amitabh Sinha, lying on the footpath. Amitabh also wanted to become an actor but was rejected because of his voice.
Danish approaches the director again, who agrees to launch him this time, but wanted him to change his name. Danish searches for a name and concludes on Shamitabh (a portmanteau of Danish and Amitabh), giving credit to the person who provided him with voice. Danish makes two films and turns out to be a hit actor. to which Amitabh realizes was only because of him. An ego problem between the two starts to rise.
Danish arrives at London to deliver a speech which Amitabh voices for him, but Danish treats him like a servant. Amitabh later becomes inebriated and is arrested after attacking a police officer, but Danish bails him out. When the duo return to Mumbai, journalists ask Danish if he is apologetic about the incident. Danish tells Amitabh to say that he apologizes from his servant, Amitabh's side. Instead, Amitabh mischievously makes him reply in negative, much to Danish's fury. The duo parts ways; Danish plays a mute person in his next film, while Amitabh dubs for another actor in a different film. Both films fail.
Akshara makes both Amitabh and Danish realize they are nothing without each other and gets them together for a film titled Sorry, which she is directing. Meanwhile, Akshara and Danish tell that they like each other. While Amitabh and Danish are on the way to the venue of the press meet for Sorry, a car accident occurs, where Danish is killed and Amitabh becomes mute after his larynx is damaged.
Some time later, Amitabh paces around Danish's grave with the script of Sorry, imagining that Danish is still alive and practicing his lines for the film.
Cast
Cameo appearances
Production
Development
In August 2013, reports announced that
Dhanush would play the lead role in R. Balki's next film.
[Iyer, Meena (21 August 2013). "ready for R Balki?" . The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] But Balki denied them as rumors, citing that they may have arisen when he had shot for an advertisement featuring.
[K. Jha, Subhash (6 March 2013). "No Shah Rukh Khan, only Amitabh Bachchan in R. Balki's next" . Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] In November 2013, Bachchan and Dhanush were announced as stars. The film also marked the acting debut of
Kamal Haasan's second daughter,
Akshara Haasan.
[ "Big B-Dhanush-Akshara Haasan In R Balki's Next" . Box Office India. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] In addition to portraying one of the film's central characters, Bachchan had also bankrolled the venture.
[Baksi, Dibyojyoti (9 April 2014). "Amitabh Bachchan to co-produce R Balki's next" . Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] In May 2014, Balki revealed that the film would be titled
Shamitabh, which also sounded similar to the
Bollywood star's name,
[ "R. Balki's next titled 'Shamitabh'" . Zee News. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] whilst also revealing that half the film's shooting had been completed.
[ "R. Balki's next titled 'Shamitabh'". Sify. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] Bachchan lent his voice to Dhanush, who plays a dumb aspiring actor in the film.
[ 18 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] The film's title derived from the duo's names in which 'Sh' from Dhanush was added as a prefix to Amitabh, therefore becoming
Shamitabh.
[ "Amitabh Bachchan's Next With R Balki Is Titled 'Shamitabh'" . Koimoi. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.]
Casting
Besides the lead cast,
it was confirmed in February 2014 that actor Rajeev Ravindranathan would appear in a small role in the film.
[Sampath, Parinatha (4 February 2014). "Rajeev Ravindranathan begins shoot for R Balki's next" . The Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] Rajeev confirmed the same again in July 2014.
[Talukdar, Taniya (23 July 2014). "Why is Rajeev Ravindranathan tight-lipped about his next film?" . The Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] In August 2014, it was reported that director
Mahesh Bhatt had acted in a cameo role in the film.
[ "Check out: Mahesh Bhatt does a cameo in 'Shamitabh'". Bollywood Hungama. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.][ "Mahesh Bhatt turns actor for R Balki's 'Shamitabh'" . India Today. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] Later it was reported that not only Mahesh Bhatt, but
Karan Johar,
Anurag Basu, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra,
Rajkumar Hirani,
Gauri Shinde, along with lyricist
Javed Akhtar and producers
Boney Kapoor and
Ekta Kapoor would do cameos in the film.
[Gupta, Priya (22 August 2014). "R Balki gets 6 directors to do a cameo in 'Shamitabh'" . The Times of India. Retrieved 22 August 2014.] Actress Abhinaya of
Nadodigal (2009) fame was selected to play a crucial role in the film.
[Borah, M. Prabalika (1 September 2014). "Going places, quietly" . The Hindu. Retrieved 1 October 2014.] Actress
Rekha was selected to play a supporting role.
Vandita Shrivastava, an MBA-turned-actress, stated that she had a role in the film.
Filming
Principal photography commenced in February 2014 in
Igatpuri.
[ "Dhanush kick starts Balki film!" . The Times of India. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] Amitabh Bachchan began shooting for his portions in the film in April 2014.
[Dubey, Rachana (22 April 2014). "Big B begins shooting for R Balki's film" . The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2014.] Shamitabh became the first Bollywood film to be shot in the Lapland region of Finland and in
Helsinki.
[ 24 June 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.][ 23 June 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] The crew shot some scenes at the Seven Hills Hospital, the same place where Bachchan underwent two abdominal surgeries and saw the birth of Aaradhya, his granddaughter.
[ 4 June 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] Some scenes were also shot in
London.
[ "Dhanush shoots in London with Amitabh Bachchan" . The Times of India. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] The team took a break in mid-July 2014 to celebrate Dhanush's birthday and the success of his 25th film,
Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014).
[ "Dhanush celebrates with Big B and Akshara Haasan" . The Times of India. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] In mid-August 2014, Amitabh Bachchan stated that he had completed his portions for the film,
[ "Amitabh Bachchan wraps up R. Balki's 'Shamitabh'" . India Today. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] whilst also confirming that 90% percent of the film's shooting had been completed.
[Pathak, Ankur (18 August 2014). "Amitabh Bachchan's final impact" . The Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] Dhanush reportedly did a few dastardly stunts in the film.
[ "Dhanush goes crazy!" . Behindwoods. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.] The film's cinematographer P. C. Sreeram was fascinated by Akshara's acting capability and lack of nervousness while shooting with Dhanush and Bachchan and lauded her as a "woman of substance".
[ "Akshara Haasan a woman of substance" . The Times of India. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.] Akshara did her own choreography for her dance.
[ 1 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album and background score were composed by
Ilaiyaraaja.
Illaiyaraaja began work for the film's songs on 6 January 2014 in
Mumbai.
[M. Suganth (13 January 2014). "Ilaiyaraaja in Mumbai to compose for Balki's film" . The Times of India. Retrieved 30 August 2014.] Bachchan had lent his voice to a song in the film. The song "Stereophonic Sannata" was reused from the song "Aasaiya Kaathula" from the Tamil movie
Johnny.
Promotion and release
The film released worldwide on 6 February 2015 and underperformed at the box office.
[ "Dhanush reveals 'Shamitabh' plans" . The Times of India. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.]
The first look of the lead actors Bachchan and Dhanush were released on 23 July 2014,[ 25 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] respectively. A video trailer of Bachchan sitting in a toilet and singing "piddly si baatein", a catchy, peppy song while holding the script, was released on 31 December 2014. An extended version of the trailer was released on 2 January 2015.[ 2 June 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] Bachchan found the look quite difficult to preserve throughout the shooting of the film.[ 21 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.] Bachchan described every film he made with Balki as "novel, out of the ordinary and most challenging" and Shamitabh is "no different".[ "Amitabh Bachchan reveals Dhanush and Akshara's look from 'Shamitabh'" .The trailer was released on 6 January 2015 Daily News and Analysis. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.] Eros International distributed the film worldwide.[ "Eros International and R Balki team up for 'Shamitabh'" . Business Standard. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.]
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience.
Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 and stated, "Shamitabh has a doubly dramatic act – but less emotion".
External links
